The last white president of South Africa, Frederik Willem de Klerk, died on Thursday morning at the age of 85, according to a statement released by his foundation.
His humanitarian foundation revealed that the Former President of South Africa died peacefully at his home in Fresnaye earlier this morning following his struggle against mesothelioma cancer.
De Klerk started his political career in 1972 as a member for the right-wing mining town of Vereeniging and after a while, he became a minister in charge of a schooling system that spent 10 times more on white children than on Blacks.
In 1993, the last white president of South Africa shared a Nobel Peace Prize with legendary African leader Mandela, who would win the presidency the following year in the first multi-racial elections in Africa's biggest economy.
Three years later, the man who had European roots, decided to retire from active politics and apologized for the miseries of apartheid before Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
De Klerk is survived by his wife Elita, his children Jan and Susan, and his grandchildren.
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